I'm really not doing business

Chapter 754 The foundation of the cycle is not benevolence, but violence
A person walking at night may not commit crimes, but he cannot stop the dogs in the alley from barking at him. This means that a person walking at night may not commit crimes, but he cannot stop the dogs in the alley from barking at him.

Zhu Yijun stood on the Wufeng Tower outside Chaoyang Gate, looking at the Confucian scholar who was calling him a cruel tyrant with an extremely cold expression. This man was the Chief Censor Wu Shilai.

Wu Shilai was a member of the Zhejiang Party and a native of Taizhou, Zhejiang. He became a Jinshi in the 32nd year of Jiajing. He offended Yan Song in the court and was exiled to the border. He began to be promoted during the Longqing period. In the 12th year of Wanli, he competed with Wang Jiaping for the post of Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, but failed to defeat Wang Jiaping. He has been a censor in the Censorate ever since.

This Wu Shilai is a man of integrity and uprightness who does not shy away from the powerful and wealthy. Just by looking at his appearance, one might think that he is a loyal person to the country and the main force behind the clamor for the impeachment of Zhang Wei.

In March of the 14th year of the Wanli reign, the court discussed promoting Wu Shilai to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief, which meant letting Wu Shilai serve as the Chief Censor of the Censorate to share some work with Hai Rui and Li Youzi. After all, the Censorate was a very large office. On March 17, the court passed the resolution on his appointment and removal and began the process. On April 7, the court rejected the previous personnel appointment.

Because Wu Shilai failed to pass the joint review of the Censorate and the Northern Pacification Office.

In the tenth year of Wanli, Wu Shilai accepted 3,000 taels of silver from Xu Congqian, a doctor in the Ministry of War. Xu Congqian asked Wu Shilai to recommend him for promotion to the assistant minister of the Ministry of War. Starting from the time when Xu Congqian paid a bribe of 3,000 taels of silver, it was found that there were problems among the 49 officials recommended by Wu Shilai, with the amount of bribes ranging from 5,000 taels to 1,000 taels. The total amount of bribes received reached 150,000 silver.

Wu Shilai was resentful. There were rumors that he was going to be promoted to the position of Chief Censor and Chief of the General Censorate. However, after a few days of rumors, there was no appointment. Wu Shilai didn't even know why he couldn't be promoted. He felt that someone was making things difficult for him! He didn't think about what he had done.

The forty-nine people who delivered bribes to Wu Shilai were among the 210 people sent to the border areas this time.

The crime of accepting bribes was not serious. Hai Rui would punish him to the maximum extent possible with 150,000 silver coins, which would only mean deprivation of his official title and never reappointment. However, these 49 people were of the same clan as Wu Shilai and together they stirred up public opinion. This was a serious problem. Accepting some silver was a small matter, but being of the same clan was a big deal.

According to the Ming Dynasty's consistent statement, Wu Shilai was a person who colluded with the powerful to destroy the law, supported each other, deceived the emperor and harmed the country.

In addition to Wu Shilai's gang, there are also Qiu Yu, Zhao Shiqing, Jiang Dong and others. They all support each other, with as many as fifty or sixty people and as few as ten or twenty people. They are in collusion with each other and corrupt the laws of the court.

Zhu Yijun sent all these people to Liaodong.

The unjust and incompetent emperor sat on the Five Phoenix Tower, watching the prison cart going away. After the prisoners returned to the city, he ordered the city gates to be closed.

A sudden action against the economic compradors, powerful and wealthy people, gambling houses, money houses and other lawless elements who hosted the Jade Banquet began.

The three infantry battalions of the Beijing Camp blocked all the main roads in the capital, and the nine gates of the capital were closed. The yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture, led by Wang Xiyuan, began to take to the streets to arrest people. The big fence was pulled out, and all the roads were closed. The Imperial Guards were mainly responsible for the inner and outer cities within the city walls. Those who were not rich or noble could not be dealt with by the yamen runners.

The yamen runners were mainly responsible for the houses near the city walls.

This sudden rain operation will last for a whole day, and the main targets are Qun Yuyan and Ren Yahang.

The crackdown lasted a whole day, and everyone was in a panic. In fact, the list had been prepared long ago, and the yamen runners and imperial guards arrested people according to the list, so as not to disturb the majority of the people.

In the evening, Zhu Yijun summoned Wang Xiyuan and Zhao Mengyou to the imperial study in Tonghe Palace and asked about the results of the sudden rain operation.

"These human traffickers actually have muskets in their hands?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown. The situation was worse than he had imagined. Those who had muskets were obviously not villains, but rebels.

Wang Xiyuan said quickly: "Although no one was injured, the imperial guards still killed two criminals during the conflict. I have made a preliminary investigation and found that these people were traffickers. Their main business was trafficking in opium."

"So that's how it is." Zhu Yijun understood. He was indeed a traitor. This was like killing rabbits by catching grass. He got an unexpected reward. In the process of catching the human trafficker, he also caught a drug dealer.

The Shuntian Prefecture government arrested more than 1,700 people in total, and the Northern Pacification Office arrested more than 1,500 people. All the powerful and influential people, running dogs, brokers, thugs, and human traffickers who had participated in the Qun Yu Banquet were arrested and brought to justice. These more than 3,000 people were all to be exiled to Java to reclaim wasteland.

"Let's lock them up in a small house first and let them calm down for a few days." Zhu Yijun made the decision. The evidence in the case was already sufficient, and there was still the process of interrogation, trial, and review to go through.

The small house is a means specifically used to deal with criminals. It is a small dark room without windows, only one person tall. A small room can only fit twenty people. The people are crammed in, and these twenty people are stacked up inside, making it difficult for them to even turn around. They can only sleep standing up, and the only light comes from the exhaust holes.

As for the problem of excretion, you can only pull your trouser pockets.

This kind of small house is built specifically to discipline criminals and make them behave themselves. No matter how notorious the criminals are outside, once they enter these small houses, they will behave themselves and will not dare to take even a step if allowed to.

It's really dishonest. There are still "single rooms" in the Ming Dynasty.

"I obey your command. I'll take my leave." Wang Xiyuan bowed his head and took his leave. He had to work overtime to sort out these cases and handle the matter properly.

It was already after dusk, when the moon was above the willows. The emperor was processing memorials in the imperial study of Tonghe Palace. Meanwhile, the Wenchang Pavilion of the Quan Chu Guild Hall was also extremely bustling with people including Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, Wang Daokun, and Wan Shihe.

The leaders of the four major parties, the Chu Party, the Jin Party, the Zhejiang Party, and the Emperor Party, gathered together. Those who knew about it might think they were discussing matters, but those who didn't think about it might think they were planning a rebellion!
There is one thing that cannot be discussed in front of the emperor, but requires the ministers to reach a consensus, and this is the purpose of this gathering.

"Since you are all here, let's get straight to the point." Zhang Juzheng said solemnly, "Your Majesty ordered the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice to revise the tax law, with Wang Ci Fu as the president and Lu Shilang as the vice president, and to attach the Ming Dynasty Code. The tax law is not difficult, but it is difficult at one point, the Taxation Bureau."

There is no doubt that the Tax Inspection Office was a deformed government office and was incompatible with the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Chonggu looked at Zhang Juzheng's hesitant look and knew that there were some things that, as the emperor's teacher and prime minister, he could not say.

Wang Chonggu held out his hand and said, "Let me tell you. Starting from the third year of Wanli, the two pacification offices in the north and south set up tax inspection offices. His Majesty ordered that taxes be inspected in the southern and northern yamen. In the fourth year of Wanli, the tax inspection office was expanded into a tax inspection court. Tax inspection courts were set up in the northern yamen, southern yamen, Songjiang Prefecture, and Guangzhou Prefecture. Tax inspection offices were set up in each prefecture, and each prefecture and county sent a thousand tax inspectors to inspect taxes."

"One demand ticket can ruin a family and kill someone."

"Today, there are more than 13,000 tax collectors, centurions, thousand-man officers, and commanders."

Thirteen thousand people are on the list, which may not seem like a large number. After all, the Guangling County government only has three thousand officials and yamen runners, and the Ming Emperor only has thirteen thousand tax collectors, which is not a large number.

But this is on the list! When the imperial guards collect taxes, the people who are not on the list are the ones who make the most money.

Wang Chonggu said solemnly, "First of all, we must clearly know that the tax inspectors are presumed guilty. As long as the tax inspectors feel that the person's life does not match his tax payment, they will start the tax inspection process and obtain clues through various means. The Ming Dynasty law is presumed innocent, but the tax inspection by the tax inspection office is presumed guilty."

"If you say you are guilty, then you are guilty."

The presumption of guilt means that human nature is evil. Everyone is considered a potential criminal. Without trial or judicial decision, they are identified as actual criminals, and then the pursuit process begins, regardless of evidence or procedures. Special cases are handled in a special way, and investigations are conducted regardless of whether there is any problem or not.

Unless the person can prove his innocence, he is guilty.

The presumption of innocence requires that there must be documentary evidence, physical evidence and witness testimony in handling a case, and that these evidences can form a complete chain of evidence and, through a judicial verdict, identify the person as a criminal.

Unless a complete chain of evidence can prove that the person is guilty, he is innocent.

Of course the Ming Dynasty laws require evidence, but the tax inspection office does not care about so many reasons.

"The most troublesome thing is the imperial concession." Wan Shihe added another tricky aspect of the Tax Inspection Office's tax inspection: the imperial concession.

The Tax Inspection Office was under the jurisdiction of the North and South Pacification Offices, and these two Pacification Offices were legal offices directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor. The prisons in these two places were called imperial prisons. Imperial privilege was a topic that could not be avoided under the imperial system.

This means that from an institutional perspective, only the emperor can deal with the Tax Inspection Office. Although in the actual implementation process, the Ming Emperor also added supervisors from the Ministry of Revenue and the Qinglisi of various places to the Tax Inspection Office, the main body of the Tax Inspection Office is still the Tiqi.

This means that the Tax Inspection Office is a closed government office that is impenetrable and water cannot penetrate. There is definitely a lack of supervision, and committing crimes, corruption, bullying, and embezzlement are all inevitable problems.

"Acolytes." Wang Chonggu took a deep breath and said, "We have discovered the terrible current situation of the Tax Inspection Office. The tax inspectors on the payroll are not terrible, but the ones who are not on the payroll are terrible."

This is a headache-inducing problem. The emperor's majesty, the strict scrutiny of the tax inspectors, and the Ministry of Revenue's audit of the Tax Inspection Office's accounts have ensured the integrity and fairness of the tax inspectors to a certain extent. However, every tax inspector has a large group of followers.

These cronies are responsible for gathering information, finding clues, collecting evidence, and collecting overdue taxes. It is impossible for the tax inspector in each place to complete the tax inspection by himself and his limited staff. The cost of tax inspection is extremely high, and more than 30% of it is allocated to these cronies.

A considerable number of the idle and decadent people in the Ming Dynasty have turned from being thugs of the powerful and wealthy to becoming lackeys of the Qianhu of the Imperial Guards.

This was the dilemma of the Inspection Office of the Ming Dynasty. The Inspection Office was composed of ninth-rank officials, and although the number of staff seemed small, it had a group of bounty archers who were specifically responsible for the bounties issued by the court and made a living by catching bandits at sea. In the early days of the country, there were bandits everywhere in the mountains, so there was no problem in doing this.

But as the dynasty stabilized and the number of bandits decreased, these archers began to gather in the mountains and became new bandits, robbing houses, forced purchases and sales, breaking into people's homes in broad daylight, and even raping women. Finally, the court could only reduce the number of inspection offices, reduce the rewards, and forced the inspection offices to stop.

During the eleven years since the Tax Inspection Office came into being, it has been sliding towards the status of the former Inspection Office.

Wang Chonggu exhaled and continued, "In the seventh year of the Wanli reign, there was a bowman named Long Tong under Cheng Zhao, the tax collector of Taixing County, Jiangsu Province. He broke into the home of the Liu family in Taixing to collect taxes. The Liu family did not dare to resist. After paying the taxes owed, Long Tong still refused to leave and dragged the Liu family's daughter into a side room and raped her. The head of the Liu family, Liu Youfu, was so angry that he beat Long Tong to death with a stick."

"In April of the seventh year of the Wanli reign, Zhao Biao, a thousand-householder in Ba County, Chongqing Prefecture, Sichuan, collected an additional 24 silver coins for every silver coins owed during the tax audit, far exceeding the % upper limit of the tax arrears fine. After three years, the magistrate of Ba County reported the case to the court."

"In February of the eighth year of the Wanli reign, Zhao Fengzhao, a thousand-householder in Ningbo, Zhejiang, recruited many vagrants, formed a clique for personal gain, and privately set up a banknote exchange. His illegal gains exceeded 40,000 silver coins, and he was reported to the prefect of Ningbo, Zhejiang."

"The three major types of cases are gangs breaking the law, excessive fines, and setting up private money offices. Reports have been made to all parts of the country, and Your Majesty has dealt with them, but they are still rampant, and the number, scale, and amount of crimes have increased year by year." This is a very serious situation. The Tax Inspection Office has gradually become a money-gathering department that everyone avoids, and is no longer an important supplement and inspection force for the Ming Dynasty's tax system.

Zhang Juzheng looked at everyone and said, "The problem is very clear. Your Majesty knows it better than us. If it weren't for your Majesty's high pressure, I'm afraid the Tax Inspection Office would have already started smuggling and selling opium. But let's go back to the beginning of the problem. Why did we set up the two Tax Inspection Offices?"

“Because we can’t collect taxes.”

"Then another question arises: when a government cannot even collect taxes, is it still a government?"

Zhang Juzheng's words silenced everyone. The imperial court was above all classes. Only with such a transcendent status could it ensure the ability to mediate the conflicts between different classes. If it couldn't even collect taxes, how long could this imperial court last?
“Alas.” Wan Shihe shook his head and said, “In the second year of the Wanli reign, Li Yashi cursed the Ming Dynasty four times in one sentence, and His Majesty was so angry.”

In the second year of the Wanli reign, Li Yashi was somewhat fanatical about converts, and loved the Ming Dynasty more than the people of the Ming Dynasty. He stood on the position of a convert, wearing tinted glasses, and asked the Ming Emperor:

[How could the Ming Dynasty have such a small government office, such an honest government, such a vast land with abundant products and stable taxation, and so much money at the disposal of the imperial court, have such a large fiscal deficit? Even the construction fees for the imperial mausoleum were in arrears.]
The magistrate, county magistrate, and chief clerk of a county receive salaries from the imperial court, while the rest are not included in the statistics of Ming officials and are not considered to be in the mainstream. On the surface, there are only three officials in a county, but in fact there are a total of 3,000 people. Li Yashi thinks that the Ming Dynasty is a small court, but in fact the Ming court is extremely bloated.

Li Yashi saw that most of the people in the court were honest people. Just looking at the opinions of those honest people, no matter who they were, they would say that the Ming Dynasty was so honest!
The Ming Dynasty was vast, and its nominal taxes were much higher than those of the entire Western world combined, but the imperial court was extremely poor.

The Ming Dynasty was bloated, corrupt, unable to collect taxes, and had a huge financial deficit. Li Yashi cursed the Ming Dynasty four times with just one sentence, and successfully became one of the Ming Dynasty's jokes.

"It is impossible to abolish the Tax Inspection Office. It's difficult for everyone, so let's just do it reluctantly." Zhang Juzheng sighed. As the weightlifting champion of the Ming Dynasty, he knew that if the Tax Inspection Office was really abolished, the Ming Dynasty would fall apart.

The Tax Inspection Office is such an illegal but reasonable government office.

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"The tax inspection rules of the Tax Inspection Office need to be revised." Wang Chonggu stood up and said, "The Tax Inspection Office needs to be reformed in several aspects. Otherwise, if things continue like this, the Tax Inspection Office will fail amid widespread opposition."

"Only when the tax inspection details can be determined and become laws can the tax inspection office last long, and all the tax laws formulated by the Ming Dynasty can be implemented. Otherwise, they are all empty words."

The Tax Inspection Office was an extremely important supervisory force for the Ming Dynasty's taxation, responsible for detecting and filling in the gaps in tax inspections.

Wang Chonggu held his hand and said, "The Ministry of Justice has decided on several items. First of all, if a household has an annual income of less than 20 silver coins, no tax will be collected and no common people will be harassed. The limit will be set every five years."

Tax inspection also has costs. Tax inspectors generally won’t make things difficult for poor people and laborers, but their cronies will definitely do so.

In the past, there was no clear definition of the boundary between poor laborers and producers and the powerful and wealthy who preyed on the flesh. The standard now set is that a household with an annual income of less than 20 silver coins is the lower limit, and the amount will be revised every five years based on the world situation.

"The second article is that there can be no more than fifty tax inspectors for every thousand households, and no more. Moreover, they must be counted every year and reported to the local court. Except for the inspectors on the list, all others who make trouble under the banner of the Tax Inspection Office will be charged with treason." Wang Chonggu mentioned the second point, which is to limit the size of the Tax Inspection Office. There are now more than 13,000 on the payroll, and it is impossible to count those who are not on the payroll.

Except for these fifty tax collectors, all others are illegally collecting taxes. There will be some improvements on limiting the scale and the bloated and rigid system.

"Article 3: Periodic elimination, including the Thousand Households for Taxation into the Performance Evaluation System, still using the rough list with names covered and the basic register filled in, with legality and compliance as the first priority and taxes as the second."

"Article 4: Public disclosure. On the fourth day of every month, a notice will be posted to publicly announce the tax audit cases of the previous month, the outstanding taxes, fines, etc. In the past, we moved the tree to establish our credibility. Today, we will post a notice to let the people of Ming know how daring these tax evaders are."

Wang Chonggu spoke eloquently and listed a total of seven points, all of which were to make improvements to the Tax Inspection Office system.

Wan Shihe thought about it again and again, and said with certainty: "Each of your seven points is very good, but the question is how to implement them? We can't let heroes check heroes, and let good men check good men."

"What results can be obtained from the monitoring? It's typical of pretending to be ignorant while knowing the truth. Isn't it the same as not doing anything?"

Zhang Juzheng sighed heavily and said, "The censor would have been the most suitable person, but he cannot perform his duties properly."

The Censors of the Censorate were the most important force for correcting mistakes in the Ming Dynasty, but this force for correcting mistakes was broken and was completely occupied by absolutely sophisticated egoists. Zhang Juzheng did not trust the Censors, even if it was the Censorate led by Hai Rui. This was not something that Hai Rui could change alone. Hai Rui could only decide for himself.

"What a bunch of cheap scholars! Everything is stuck here, we are in a dilemma!" Wang Chonggu's face changed several times, and finally he sat down dejectedly. No matter how good his seven tax inspection rules were, they would be in vain without supervision.

If the Censorate had not failed to function, many systems of the Ming Dynasty would have been implemented more smoothly, and the pace of the Wanli Reform would not have been so difficult.

"Can we trust the censors of the Metropolitan Censorate?" Wang Daokun, the leader of the Zhejiang Party, said uncertainly, "Your Majesty has sent 210 people to the border areas. The new censors can be carefully selected and trusted."

"At the beginning, after Yang Shen led his men to the Zuoshun Gate to abdicate and force the emperor to abdicate, 229 people were either demoted or punished. The court has been clean and honest for more than ten years. It will only take a while to clean it up again."

Wang Daokun felt that His Majesty was doing the right thing. Sending the lowly Confucian scholars to the border areas would just free up some vacancies. At the same time, he could also arrange honest officials to these key positions, so that the ability of the Censorate to correct mistakes could be restored to some extent.

"What the Grand Marshal said makes sense." Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and felt that what Wang Daokun said made sense. The Censorate had been dealt with by His Majesty so many times, and there had been great changes. At least the censors who told lies with their eyes open had been eliminated.

You can try to trust it.

"Wang Ci Fu, I have an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible." Wan Shihe looked around and whispered, "This is also your majesty's idea. Let people voluntarily report taxes. As long as they voluntarily report taxes, it won't attract the attention of the Tax Inspection Office."

"If they are willing to pay it voluntarily, what is the point of the Tax Inspection Office?" Wang Chonggu always felt that His Majesty was a little whimsical. His Majesty has always been wise, but no matter how you look at it, this matter seems to be the emperor's wishful thinking.

Wan Shihe said with a very strange expression: "I thought so at first, but after thinking about it carefully, your majesty's method is very wonderful. It seems impossible to make people pay taxes and file tax returns voluntarily, but the Tax Inspection Office is a very special government office."

"Wang Ci Fu, if you mess with the Taxation Bureau, you will be skinned alive if you don't die. In the local area, there are some local tyrants that even powerful dragons can't suppress. If you mess with the Taxation Bureau, it's useless to burn incense and pray to Buddha everywhere. At the very least, you will be injured, and at the worst, your family will be destroyed."

The emperor's solution was to fill out forms and pay taxes, which involved a game.

As long as some people fear the majesty of this special government office and pay taxes on their own initiative, the Tax Inspection Office can devote more energy to dealing with those who refuse to pay taxes.

If some people voluntarily file tax returns, the scope of tax inspection by the tax inspection office will be narrowed, and the tax inspection office will have more energy to conduct tax inspections more accurately and fairly. The more accurate and fair the inspection is, the more it will enhance the authority and credibility of the tax inspection office, and more people will voluntarily file tax returns in order to reduce trouble.

As long as someone takes the initiative, more people will take the initiative, and eventually, under this cycle, everyone will take the initiative, leaving those who are hoping for luck with their chances nowhere to hide.

Once this logic is truly established, a general consensus will gradually form, and the Tax Inspection Office will eventually only need to put in very little effort to complete its tax inspection tasks. Moreover, to a great extent, it can effectively avoid the bloat and rigidity of the Tax Inspection Office.

"I see." Wang Chonggu frowned. He had completely understood the logic, but still felt something was wrong. He thought again and again and asked, "Grand Master, what is the basis for this cycle?"

"Yes, when your majesty was talking to me, I was also thinking about it, so I asked your majesty directly. Your majesty told me that the cornerstone of the establishment is that the Tax Inspection Office has its own armed forces. The Tax Inspection Office is a violent department, and the supervisors are all Tiqi, who are well-trained and well-armed, and even more elite than the Beijing Army."

Wan Shihe said helplessly: "The cornerstone of this cycle is not benevolence and righteousness, but violence."

"Your Majesty is wise." Wang Chonggu looked at his seven tax inspection items and suddenly felt that it didn't matter whether he worked as the Minister of Justice or not.

Your Majesty's method is much better than the seven methods he has used.

Wang Chonggu examined himself again and found that he was actually a little bit trapped in Ming Gong's thinking.

The Minggong thinking is that the holder of power, after holding power for a long time, will fall into the misconception that as long as the system is designed sophisticated enough, the government's orders can be implemented, while ignoring the importance of the game between different classes.

The same thing happened with the previous trade union. No matter how good the system he designed was, after all the hard work, he ended up looking bad.

However, Zhou Liangyin's elimination of redundant staff in Guangling County had no effect from top to bottom. Instead, it led to a game of power among classes, and the villagers could not bear it and begged Zhou Liangyin for help.

Your Majesty seems to have a deeper understanding of class theory, and is able to use the game between different classes to promote the improvement and implementation of government orders.

Your Majesty proposed the method of voluntarily reporting taxes at this time because the people have already reached a certain consensus on paying taxes. As long as you do not pay taxes, you may be in trouble by the Tax Inspection Office. The Tax Inspection Office has been implemented for twelve years, causing complaints and panic among the people.

With a certain consensus on tax payment, the cycle of active tax reporting can be promoted. There is a very pleasing point here, which the four gentlemen present here are all very clear about, that is, those who actively report taxes must be small households.

Small households have weak risk resistance and cannot withstand the troubles of the tax inspection office. It is always small households, which are the largest in number, and will take the initiative to file tax returns to avoid trouble.

The big households will certainly find ways to continue evading taxes. At this time, the tax inspection office can ignore the small households and go directly to the big households. As long as it does this once or twice, it will achieve the effect of making an example of them and scaring them.

"Your Majesty will issue tax tickets of varying denominations, which can only be purchased with silver. They are specially used by those who are inconvenient to report their expenses. The denominations range from fifty to five hundred silver coins, making it easier for those who are not so convenient to pay taxes." Wan Shihe said with certainty: "If you don't want to be in trouble with the Tax Inspection Office, you have to pay taxes even if you commit a crime!"

Wang Chonggu stared at Wan Shihe in a daze for a long time before he was stunned and said, "He has committed a crime, but he still has to buy tax invoices to pay taxes. If he is law-abiding, how can he commit a crime? Will anyone buy this kind of tax invoice?"

"Yes, and we must buy it." Zhang Juzheng was silent for a long time, and finally said helplessly: "This is simply the protection fee collected by Your Majesty."

The disciples I taught were really obsessed with money and even wanted to collect taxes from criminals!
(End of this chapter)